Five ways Awin helps you to scale your affiliate program

Written by Samantha Sherer on

Jun 19th 2019.

The affiliate marketing model is growing.

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With 81% of brands estimated to use affiliate marketing and over a third of marketers calling affiliate marketing a top way of acquiring customers, this method of marketing should not be overlooked as a way to generate traffic and achieve sales.

Yet, as with all forms of marketing and traffic generation methods, establishing an effective affiliate program and then consistently scaling it to better and greater heights can initially seem difficult.

This is where Awin can really help. As a leading global affiliate marketing network, we act as a middle man to introduce advertisers and publishers. And our role does not stop there. With detailed support systems and innovative tools in place, working with Awin can help build your brand’s affiliate program easily and effectively without impinging heavily on your time.

Affiliate publishers are pre-qualified

Discovering quality publishers to work with can be challenging. If you take on the task of finding publishers directly, you may come across affiliates who do not adhere to strict compliance rules. Weeding out publishers who may demonstrate unethical working practices can be time consuming and challenging if undertaken on your own.

Awin reduces this stress by ensuring all of our publishers undergo a thorough approval process before being accepted onto the network. All users must agree to abide by Awin’s code of conduct, which is aimed at preventing dishonorable behavior. One of advertisers’ main concerns are having to pay commissions on sales that have been generated through unethical methods; Awin’s approval process ensures publishers likely to employ suspicious techniques are not accepted on to the network, giving advertisers greater peace of mind.

Additionally, not only are affiliates pre-qualified but they undergo regular checks during their time on the network. Any activity that does not follow Awin’s strict regulations is picked up during these checks and dealt with accordingly. This ensures the publishers are always of a high caliber and advertisers are operating in a safe, secure and fair space.

Awin works with over 200,000 active publishers globally who have all demonstrated their knowledge and ability within their chosen niche. If you operate in high-end retail, financial services, hotels, entertainment or one of the other markets Awin specializes in, you will find a good match to promote your services within our pool of highly-regarded and pre-qualified publishers.

Exposure to a global audience

If your product or service is suitable for a worldwide audience, getting it in front of that crowd can help take your business to the next level. However, every geographical area has specific idiosyncrasies and challenges to be aware of, and without local knowledge these can be difficult to surmount.

The traditional method of international expansion involves setting up a local office, hiring staff in a new country and learning the legalities and regulations of the new geographic area, which is costly and time consuming.

Working with Awin allows you to expose your product and services to publishers globally who understand their geographic areas and the best methods of approaching potential leads in their local market. Becoming an advertiser with Awin affords you exposure to over 200,000 publishers globally, working across more than 180 countries and operating in 17 different markets. With support and guidance from our publisher and advertiser management teams who are experts within their individual markets, Awin’s global reach can assist in the building of an international footprint for advertisers keen to expand worldwide.

Dedicated account managers

When you first join an affiliate network it can be a slightly daunting time as you grapple to understand the processes and how to make the most of all of the systems. To counterbalance this and keep it as easy as possible for users, Awin has a team of expert account managers who understand the individual needs of the different industries and markets - includingretail, travel, technology, mass media, and influencer marketing - and also appreciates how differences affect marketing strategies.

These dedicated account managers work directly with clients and offer incomparable support and guidance aimed at helping their affiliate programs expand and develop.

Working with publishers directly takes time and effort, and can monopolize too many hours that could be used developing the forefront of your business operations. Managing a team of publishers is comparable to the role of an internal marketing manager who oversees the sales force. Joining Awin’s network negates that need, as our publisher management team, account managers and internal processes are in place to reduce that responsibility off of merchants.

Comprehensive tracking and technology

Being able to track the performance of affiliate programs is a key aspect for retailers and is an important factor in monitoring performance and instigating improvements. Awin has a range of innovative tools to help advertisers to track, record and report on various data points. Awin’s technology solutions run alongside affiliate programs to enhance and improve how the programs are operating while also making them easier to manage. These tools also help to make the affiliate programs attractive to publishers, by offering flexibility and promotional assistance.

Some of Awin’s most-innovative technology includes:

Awin MasterTag - Our ITP compliant, first-party tracking solution that can follow sales across any browser type. This powerful piece of JavaScript sits on all landing pages and handles all affiliate tracking. It is the foundation of all new tracking enhancements and, over the years, high-performing publishers have been integrated into MasterTag, making it hassle free for any advertiser to start working with these partners.

Coupon Attribution – This technology supports partnerships with social influencers and content affiliates by using code-based tracking that can follow affiliate sales without a click or affiliate tracking link. This provides an alternative system for advertisers to offer publishers or influencers who are not in a position to use traditional tracking methods.

These methods are easy to implement yet provide more flexibility and new opportunities to inspire greater alliances with affiliates.

Engagement with influencers

Working with influencers has been highlighted across social media as one of the most effective methods of reaching new audiences. Yet it is not without its challenges, including the necessary time needed to find and build relationships with suitable influencers.

Awin simplifies this. We consider influencer marketing as a promotional method that fits within the affiliate channel and is best managed by a network. We make it simple for influencers and brands to work together, helping to ease the time management burden by providing tools, technology, reporting strategies, and attribution models.

Influencers previously used affiliate networks less as they felt they lacked diversity. However, with over 15,000 advertisers globally on Awin, the network has grown to become an attractive marketplace for influencers. Awin actively encourages influencers with a passion for “lifestyle, food, travel, family – or who are an all-round social media expert.” Awin offers Payment on Influence so publishers can be paid for every sale they helped generate, irrespective of when the last click occurred. This helps attract influencers of a high caliber with an impressive reach.

With more and more brands joining the Awin network, coupled with greater numbers of influencers coming onboard, engagement between the two parties has become easier and more manageable. We provide a win-win environment, where influencers help drive business to brands while being rewarded well for their efforts.

In all of your marketing endeavors be aware of the 80/20 rule - 80% of your income will come from 20% of your publishers. With Awin’s deep pool of approved publishers and influencers, finding the top 20% to work with is no longer a challenge.

A final word

Joining an affiliate network provides many benefits for advertisers. It’s much easier to reach a wide pool of new publishers to promote your products, and tracking tools and expertise are available for you to use as a resource. Awin takes this one step further by ensuring all affiliates are vetted prior to being accepted while providing innovative technology to attract the best publishers on to the network. With our innovative technology, advertisers can monitor and improve their campaigns while dedicated account managers are at hand to offer advice and guidance geared at optimizing performance.

Customer care is at the heart of what Awin stands for, ensuring publishers, advertisers, and consumers all have the best experience possible through their affiliate marketing journey. Everything Awin offers provides a straightforward and streamlined system geared towards success.

If you are looking to scale your affiliate marketing business, please contact our new business team. We have invested heavily in our tools and techniques to help advertisers succeed.

Social media and Influencer Marketing might commonly be associated with eCommerce and retail brands, but these powerful tactics readily apply across all industries, from lifestyle to professional services. Maximizing the value of self-published content can be a challenge, particularly with limited resources, but the added value of influencers can help brands across all industries effectively reach consumers in a way that inspires genuine enthusiasm.